It's so good to see you. I know I sound like a broken
record, I get it. But I thank God that we're able
to be here, that we've got this privilege. One more time, Kevin,
be here. I want you to take your Bibles
and turn with me to the book of Acts, the book of
Acts. Acts chapter 17. The Apostle
Paul was called, ought, and sent of
Almighty God. Just like every preacher of the
gospel is sent, called, of God. All God's preachers have one
message. They've got the message of the
glory of God in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's all
we've got. That's all you need. And Paul
went just like all God's preachers do. Preach the gospel. Acts 17 verse 10. Says this concerning. Those that here had been given
a heart to hear the gospel 1710. And the brethren immediately
sent away Paul Silas by night onto Berea. who coming thither
went into the synagogue of the Jews. And these, that is those
in Berea, were more noble, they were more well-bred, is what
that word means by the Spirit of God. Nothing in them made
them any more noble. God had shown them mercy. These
were more noble than those in Thessalonica in that they received
the word with all readiness of mind. And listen to what's being
said right here. Let's listen to this carefully.
They searched the scriptures daily whether those things were
so. They searched the scriptures
daily. Find out. It's what I'm hearing, the truth. It's what I'm hearing, the word
of God. Now, as the Lord was about to
ascend back into heaven, back to his father, these words, I
want you to take your Bibles, turn to Mark 16, Mark chapter
16. He said something to his disciples.
Mark 16, verse 14 to 16. He's getting ready to go back
to his father and he gives this commission, this great commission. Mark 16, verse 14. Afterward, he appeared unto the
eleven as he sat at meat and upbraided them. of their unbelief
and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which
had seen him after he was risen. And he said unto them, now listen
to these words, go ye into all the world, preach
the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be
damned. Go into all the world and preach
the gospel to every creature. Everyone that hears and believes
the gospel shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be
damned. As I read those words again this
morning, going over my nose this morning, I thought, prayed, mulled over,
and those words pierced my heart. And I asked myself this question. Is what I'm preaching the message
of life? Now listen to me this morning.
You've heard me say this before. I'm gonna say it again. We're dying creatures. We're
gonna leave this world. All of us gonna stand before
God. It's what I'm preaching to you,
the truth. Because if I'm not, you're hearing
a lie. A lie that is not gonna be blessed
of God. I had a dear friend of mine that
we were talking to, we were talking together this week. He was burdened
with seeing the frailties of this flesh. I thought I know
a little bit about that, you do too. And he contemplated as he was
going over these trials in this life, preaching. He said, what if I got to a point
where I couldn't preach anymore? What about these sheep? What
about these sheep? What about the feeding of these
sheep? He told me that it made him think of the seriousness
of what we were doing. And I know how man by nature
is. I know that we're just so prone
to think lightly of these things. But all the seriousness of what
we're doing here is what I'm preaching to this congregation
right here, the truth according to God's revelation, because the gospel is the power
of God unto salvation, the gospel. And I know the reality of everybody
and their brother that stands in a pulpit just because they
call themselves a preacher. I know. Everybody says, well,
I'm preaching the truth. I'm preaching the truth. How
is it that everybody is not then preaching the same thing? How
is it that there's One that says this, one says that, this is
what you gotta do to be saved. I told you the story of my dear
friend, Darwin Pruitt. Years ago, I mean years ago,
you've heard me tell this story. It bears preaching, proclaiming
again. His nephew asked him one time,
he said, how do I know that what you're preaching's so? Darwin told him, he said, but
for the grace of God, you won't. And what'll happen is you'll
find you some place to go to church. And you'll find a place
that suits your fancy and makes you feel good. But for the grace
of God, you'll die. And you'll face God. But for the grace of God, how
will I know that what I'm preaching is so. How do I know? Go ye into
all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth, he that places
all of his confidence, he that is persuaded, he that entrust
his soul to what he's saying shall be saved. I've got the responsibility this
morning to preach to you. I've got the responsibility to
tell you what God said. A Philippian jailer came to the
Apostle Paul one day after the Lord had miraculously delivered
some of his preachers from the bonded shackles of a jail, a
Philippian jail. Philippian jailer asked him,
what must I do to be saved? What must I do to be saved? Paul said, believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. Believe on Christ Jesus, the
Lord, believe the gospel. Oh, the importance of hearing
the truth. Turn with me to Romans chapter
10. Romans 10. Build this up, Lord willing,
tell you what we know is the truth. What we know is the truth. Look at John chapter, I mean,
Romans, I'm sorry, Romans chapter 10. Romans chapter 10. Verse 13. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him
in whom they've not believed? How shall they believe in him
whom they've not heard? How shall they hear without a
preacher? How shall they preach except they be sent As it is
written, how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the
gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things. Oh, the importance of hearing
the gospel. Am I preaching the gospel, the
necessity of hearing the gospel? This is what God's people want
to hear. You tell me the truth. Thanks be unto God. There's a
way that we can know. There's a way that we can be
assured. In Romans chapter 1, Romans 1, the Apostle Paul was
moved. Romans 1, verses 1 to 6. We can be assured of the truth.
God's Word. Romans 1. Verse 1 to 6, Paul,
a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto
the gospel of God, which he had promised afore by his prophets
in the holy scriptures, concerning his son, Jesus Christ our Lord,
which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh,
and declared to be the son God with power, according to the
spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead, by whom we have
received grace and apostleship or obedience to the faith among
all nations for his name, among whom ye also called of Jesus
Christ. The gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ is concerning God's Son, What does that mean? That means
it's not concerning me and you. It's not concerning what we can
do. It's not concerning what we must
do of ourselves to be saved. It has nothing to do with our
ability. For by grace are you saved through
faith. and that not of yourselves. It's
the gift of God. Why? Because I'm gonna boast.
If it has anything to do with me, if it has anything to do
with my faithfulness, anything to do with my ability, anything
to do, I wanna do something that I heard
Brother Scott say one time. This statement's not original
to me. And I'm sure that Scott heard
it from somebody too. What he said was, he told me,
he said, Marvin, when you preach the gospel, here's what you do. You lay down a straight stick.
Lay down a straight stick of truth. And he said, you compare
everything that you think, everything you know, everything you see,
everything you hear, you compare everything to the straight stick
of the gospel. If there's any deviation in what
the scripture says, if there's any deviation, then it's not
so, it's not the truth, it's not the gospel. I'm gonna lay down a straight
stick this morning. I pray God bless you because I'm telling
you right now, your eternal soul and mine too depends on what
God has got to say. The gospel we preach, is the only message that proclaims
man to be as man truly is. Man by nature is dead, spiritually
dead. Now, I'm gonna ask you something.
Is what you believe, is what you've been told, is what you
hear, Does it proclaim that man by nature has no ability whatsoever
to regenerate himself, to bring himself to God? I had a man tell me this week.
He told me, he said, I'll tell you what I'm doing. He said,
I'll tell you, I'm walking the straight and narrow. I'm walking
with God. I'm following after him. And
I thought to myself, if you think that you by your nature, by yourself,
is following after God, you have no hope whatsoever. Is what I
believe concerning man consistent with what the scriptures said?
There's none righteous Not one, not me, not you, not anybody.
Born in Adam, not anybody. All religion in this world can
be summed up one or two ways. Either man has the ability to
do something to reconcile himself back to God, or he doesn't. Everything's under one of two
categories. Either man is spiritually dead,
according to the truth, or there's just still a little bit of life
in him. The scripture sets forth that
man by nature is a spiritually dead creature. And I'm going
to ask you something. Is what you're hearing from this
pulpit of any pulpit that you go is what you're hearing does
it set forth that man by nature is dead spiritually. What you're
hearing gives man a little hope if it just sets forth that he
just kind of spiritually dozed off and he's just a little sleepy
and maybe he just needs a little nudging, you know. Let's get
him involved. Let's get him in church. Let's
give him a job. Man from his mother's womb comes
forth dead, speaking lies. Man's righteousness from the
womb is as filthy rags as non-righteous, no, not one. Man by nature is
a spiritually dead creature. Is the message, secondly, the
one you hear, does it set forth that man is totally, completely
depraved, and that almighty God, to show that man any mercy, must
have looked upon that man, that woman, in Christ, before the
foundation of the world, to show them mercy. and chose them, chose
them, chose them, chose to show mercy to them. The choosing wasn't
left up to me. Somebody said, well, I chose
the Lord. Well, when it comes to your salvation,
the scripture says you didn't. You didn't choose me, I chose
you. Did God Almighty set his affection upon me? before the
foundation of the world show me mercy? Or do I believe that
I chose him? He wouldn't save me if I'd let
him. Is the message that I'm hearing,
the message that I preach, does it make man totally incapable
and subject only to God's will, to God's mercy? If I set forth
from my heart God Almighty chose to show mercy to me. I'm telling
you, I know in me, that is in my flesh, I know there dwelleth
no good thing, I know that. I think back, I've mentioned
every once in a while, looking back on me, and I know you know
it, I know you look this way too. You think, but for the grace
of God, if God would have left me to myself, God would have
left me to me. Oh, I'd have no hope. I'd have
no hope. If God didn't choose to show
mercy to this sinner, if he didn't choose to set his affection upon
me, the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, I don't have any hope. Somebody that tells me God, God
wants to show mercy to everybody. I know that appeals to the flesh. The God I serve is a good God. The God I serve is a good God
too. He's a just God too. He's just and he's holy. The God before whom I must stand
in you. Unless he chooses to show mercy, Somebody might say, what you're
preaching, that electing stuff, that election, all that kind
of stuff, that's not fair. I wonder how many times I've
thought on that and I thought, if God was fair concerning this,
he'd put me in hell. I'd have no hope. Oh, that God
would show mercy to me is the message you're hearing, that
message that sets forth that God Almighty has chosen to show
mercy to one like me, one like you. It's a message that I hear,
a message that sets forth that Almighty God has taken and laid
upon the Lord Jesus Christ the guilt of all of his people. The Lord Jesus Christ, bearing
the debt of all his elect, went to the cross. He was made sin. I had a man tell me one time,
he said, I hear what you're saying, but I don't believe that my God
was made a sinner. I said, I don't believe God was
made a sinner either. He's just and holy. But I can
tell you this, he was made sin. There's a big difference. Somebody
said, explain the difference to me between being made a sinner
and being made a sin. I said, a sinner is one that
is disobedient. And our Lord did in all things,
those things that pleased his father. He was not made a sinner. He was made sin. And don't ask
me to explain the depth of that because I can't. But I can tell
you this. For his people, he was made sin. And almighty God in absolute
justice, absolute justice, dealt with him. dealt with the Lord
Jesus Christ on the behalf of his people as he must deal with one where
sin is found. Was he a sinner? No, sir. No,
sir, don't accuse me of that. Oh, I've been accused of that
a lot of times. Don't accuse me of that. He wasn't a sinner. He was obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross. And he laid down his life He
laid down his life for the sheep, for his people. He died for his
people. The message that I preach is
a message that sets forth that when almighty God comes to his
own, he makes them willing in the day of his power to come.
I sat under a message for years that People would get up, and
I guess it sounds good to them. They said, boy, I can remember
time when the Lord put me under conviction, and I grabbed hold
of the back of that pew. My knuckles were white. Look
at that. Look at that wire right there.
Holding on to that pew, resisting, resisting God. He was calling
me. Oh, but I was resisting. I wouldn't
come, but finally I came. Are you bragging? You're telling us how, you know,
how the Lord wanted to save you, but bless God, finally you let
him. Isn't that dishonoring? Isn't that the most horrible
thing? I'm telling you, the Lord, as I said a moment ago, Psalm
110.3, thy people, thy people shall be willing in the day of
thy power. Why do God's people come? Because
he calls them. He gives them a new heart. He
gives them life in Christ, and they hear his voice. My sheep
hear my voice, and they follow me. I know them, and they come. It's a message that you're hearing,
a message that gives all the honor, all the glory, and all
the praise for you coming to Christ in your heart. How does
a man come to Christ? He comes in his heart, that's
all I know how to say it. I don't know how to say it. But
he comes because God makes him willing to come. He wants to
come, I want to. Did you come because you didn't
want to? No, you didn't come because you didn't, you came
because you want to. But who gave you the want to? It gives
new heart, or you wouldn't have come. And this message that we preach,
this gospel that we preach, you go into all the world and preach
the gospel to every preacher. Because this gospel we preach
is the message that talks about God who keeps us. Preserving grace, preserving
grace. They went out from us, the Apostle
Paul said, because they were not of us.
Why do some come and sit under the sound of the gospel for a
while? And after a while, why do they
leave? Why do they want to? Because
that's man by nature. Why do any stay? Why are you
still here? Why are we still here? You've
said under this same message, you've heard this same message.
I preach this same. I'm not preaching anything any
differently than I normally preach. I've said before, I just preach
it out of a different passage. That's all I do. But it's the
same message. It's the same message. Why do
you come back? Why do you come back? because
Almighty God has kept you by the power of God through faith
to believe, ready to be revealed in the last time. This is why
you come. Go into all the world and preach
the gospel to every creature, he that believeth, he that believeth. This is the only way that I know
what I'm preaching is so, because I can back it up with scripture.
You try to preach, or you try to listen to somebody. I'm not,
God preachers are not gonna preach this, but you try to listen to
somebody that's preaching something, and if it's inconsistent with
what this scripture has got to say, then it's a lie. It's a
lie. Where's all my hope? It's in
Christ. How do you know that? Because
the scripture says for it. He is my life. He's my hope. We would do well to listen to
preaching that is consistent with this book, with the gospel
of God's free and sovereign grace. How can I be sure what I hear
is life? Because God has set it forth.
He set it forth in this book, the scriptures. And I'm gonna
tell you right now, wherever you go, whatever you listen to,
if you can't back it up, this book, these scriptures, then
it's a lie. And you'd do well to never listen
to it again. Well, most of what they say is
so. Most of what they say, they're
saying a lot of good things. A little leaven leavens a whole
lump. Lord, have mercy upon us. Lord,
teach us your truth. Teach us afresh. Teach us again
for your glory and our eternal good.